Orange County moves to do away with FCAT

ORLANDO, Fla. (WESH) -- Orange County students and parents will not have to deal with the FCAT much longer.

For the last 16 years, the tests have been the standard for determining student ability.

On Thursday, the school board chairman announced the new Common Core curriculum and testing will be in place by Spring 2015.

"FCAT is going to be on its way out the door and replaced with what are called PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) exams," Orange County School Board Chair Bill Sublette said.

The new curriculum will meet a national standard for education aimed at raising U.S. education.

"At least, that is the plan now," Sublette said. "The challenging thing is we have to get our teachers ready to do Common Core."

All 12,000 Orange County teachers are expected to be trained on the new Common Core standards by the end of next year.